Bea M
Basic Info
| First Name | Bea |
| Last Name | M |
| Username | beam |
Progressive Profile
| Current Employer | Media Matters |
| Current Occupation | Media Analyst |
| Tagline | US media analyst and walking One America News database with a keen eye for identifying anti-democratic narratives. |
| Bio | Since September 2020, I’ve spearheaded MMFA’s One America News (OAN) monitoring and research program. I’ve covered all aspects of right-wing extremism, bigotry, and anti-government conspiracy theories. My work’s taken me through the 2020 election, the Capitol Insurrection, the election audits, the Lindell Cyber symposium, the Ukraine-Russia War, and the rise of the LGBTQ groomer conspiracies. I have a unique insight into the future of the GOP, the threat smaller far-right outlets pose to democracy, and the election denialist Christina Bobb. |
| Impact | I developed a new monitoring and research strategy for a relatively obscure far-right program, sounding the alarm on OAN and increasing org-wide research capacity. Ultimately, I laid the foundation for a successful, information-based campaign that convinced major cable companies to drop OAN. My work has appeared on MSNBC, Last Week Tonight, and Late Night and in Vanity Fair, The Daily Beast, and Poynter. Early on in my career, I contributed to a long-term project culminating in Youtube demonetizing Rudy Giuliani’s channel. I also *may* have pre-emptively foiled the former CEO of Papa John’s redemption tour. |
| Mission | I plan on channeling my love of pop culture, unique insight into US politics and media, and passion for research to help the progressive movement combat misinformation and disinformation, assist monitoring programs, and hold platforms accountable. Ideally, I’d like to learn how to code python and receive OSINT-based training so I can do more social media-based work. Eventually, I’d love to create open-source research tools focused on trend analysis for dis/misinformation research. Someday, I plan on attending a grad school program so I can focus on the intersections of pop culture, parasocial relationships, and US politics. |